The Lion and the Mouse

As a lion lay sleeping, a mouse ran across his face and woke him up. The lion was furious, seized it in his paw, and was about to kill it. The terrified mouse begged him to spare its life. “Please let me go,” it cried. “One day I will repay your kindness.”

The lion found it so utterly hilarious that such an insignificant creature could ever help him that he laughed out loud and let the mouse go.

But the mouse’s chance came soon enough. Not long afterwards, the lion got tangled in a net that had been spread by game hunters. The mouse heard and recognized his roars and ran to the spot.

Without ado, it got to work on the ropes with its teeth, and before long succeeded in setting the lion free. “They you are!” said the mouse. “You laughed at me when I promised to repay you; but now you see, even a mouse can help a lion.”

“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” ~Aesop.
Image sourced from Project Gutenberg.